Posted on 04/24/2017 7:36:47 AM PDT by Swordmaker
Travis Kalanick’s drive to win in life has led to a pattern of risk-taking that has at times put his ride-hailing company on the brink of implosion.
SAN FRANCISCO — Travis Kalanick, the chief executive of Uber, visited Apple’s headquarters in early 2015 to meet with Timothy D. Cook, who runs the iPhone maker. It was a session that Mr. Kalanick was dreading.
For months, Mr. Kalanick had pulled a fast one on Apple by directing his employees to help camouflage the ride-hailing app from Apple’s engineers. The reason? So Apple would not find out that Uber had been secretly identifying and tagging iPhones even after its app had been deleted and the devices erased — a fraud detection maneuver that violated Apple’s privacy guidelines.
But Apple was onto the deception, and when Mr. Kalanick arrived at the midafternoon meeting sporting his favorite pair of bright red sneakers and hot-pink socks, Mr. Cook was prepared. “So, I’ve heard you’ve been breaking some of our rules,” Mr. Cook said in his calm, Southern tone. Stop the trickery, Mr. Cook then demanded, or Uber’s app would be kicked out of Apple’s App Store.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I’m doing a start-up right now that focuses on tracking systems for cellular devices.
And believe me, if Apple didn’t want Uber to linger, Apple wouldn’t allow Uber to linger.
And Apple can unlock phones just fine. That whole FBI thing was a sham.
The thing is they don’t want people to know that they can do these things. They don’t want the precedent.
How is recording the phone’s IMEI a fraud detection maneuver?
Pinging ThunderSleeps for attention of his list for the Uber Android App users.
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I don’t get it.
Why would Uber do this?
I’m no fan of Apple, but rules are rules.
Uber shoots self in foot?.................
I used Uber in Kiev. It was pretty good. Some rides were a dollar or two. I did don't need to speak to the driver and paid by credit card. The drive vets don't expect tips; the first one thought I was trying to pay him. It also worked great in Kraków.
No, Apple cannot. They do not have the 256 bit AES encryption key to the data. It is impossible for them to unlock a modern iPhone without it. They could unlock iPhones prior to the iPhone 5s, but not after.
As I just pointed out, Apps are sandboxed in modern iOS and prevented from lingering around after being deleted. This is some NYT reporter's pipe dream that the ability to track lingered after the app was deleted or the iPhone was reset to factory settings.
I can see that if a previous user of Uber had failed to pay, had cancelled payment after calling for service, or had used a stolen credit/debit card using that particular iPhone they would be unlikely to want to serve that person calling again from that same iPhone. However, people do sell iPhones to innocent buyers and to use the immutable IMEI assigned to the iPhone would be unfair to the buyer.
That was my thought as well... and it is a twofer. Get's both Uber and Apple in one shot. There is so many errors in what is written about Apple that it makes me suspicious. Exactly how did the author know what went on in that private closed door meeting between the two CEOs of Uber and Apple, down to ascribing an exact quote to Tim Cook? It smacks of fiction.
There is a big battle going on in New York between the traditional Taxi system and Uber and Lyft. . . and the New York Times is backing the Taxi companies who advertise with them. A taxi medallion can be sold in NY for north of $1.5 million, irrespective of the license to run a taxi. It's big business.
I suspect traditional Taxi companies will adapt and operate more like Uber in terms of having drivers ready available via an app.
Thanks for the update on the pricing of medallions. The last I had seen was a sale that went for the $1.5 million. I can see that the influx of Uber and Lyft would have that kind of effect on the value of the medallions. . . so no wonder the owners are screaming mad about the devaluation of a valuable asset due to what they see as illegal competition which they consider to be unlicensed gypsy cabs.
“How is recording the phone’s IMEI a fraud detection maneuver?”
I don’t understand the question.
Ah, makes sense now, assuming that IMEI/MEID are truly immutable.
“And believe me, if Apple didn’t want Uber to linger, Apple wouldn’t allow Uber to linger.”
Not if they track the data from outside the phone. IMEI, etc. Not hard.
It's much easier to spoof or clone one than to change one.
That is not iPhone specific. . . and requires Uber to tie in to all of the carriers, which they may possibly be doing, but not economical.
Well, they can access Apple-specific data. not just geolocation, SMS and call logs. Anyone in government can get those with hardly even a warrant.
The backdoors need to be introduced now that people OWN their phones. If you’re financing it through a contract.. It’s not yours.
That’s been the line of thinking until recently.
Yes, it is. You've bought the phone on time. Check the contract. If you end the contract early, you owe for the balance due which reduces according to the amount of time left on the contract. The purchase is just buried in the contract, and the user owns the handset, otherwise the carrier would be responsible for repairs to the handset.
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